Varied Celluloid

The Plot: Taking place in the Sung Dynasty, we are treated to a tale of espionage and ever-twisting loyalties. Our story begins with the death of Emperor Kuang Yin who was rumored to have been killed by his brother De Zhao. When the new Emperor Guang Yi took the throne he immediately ordered De Zhao to commit suicide. We skip forward several years and now De Zhao’s son Zhao Jue has been crowned as the prince of Xiangyang and he has his mind set on vengeance. Zhao Jue looks to overthrow the Emperor and he starts off by ordering his men to steal several precious objects from the current government. Zhao Jue keeps himself locked away in his House of Traps, where he fears no spies due to the massive number of booby-traps within this home. Inside of the House he keeps a membership list that holds the name of all those who have joined his rebellion, as well as the precious jade and ivory horse that he has stolen from the government. Zhao Jue has his eyes on becoming all powerful, but at the same time Judge Pow (Chien Sun) is heading up an investigation into the accusations that Zhao Jue is a traitor. As Judge Pow heads off to do some investigating, the prince sends out two pair of hitmen in order to end his snooping. Along the way the judge, who is not skilled in kung fu, runs into Pai yu-tong (Chin Siu-Ho) who is enlisted as a bodyguard and defeats the men. As the tides keep turning, other groups continue to step into the battle. Who will win in this battle of government officials and rebels?

	The Review

Chang Cheh, Ni Kuang and the Venom Mob were in my humble opinion the greatest team in all of martial arts cinema throughout the seventies and eighties. There is an argument that often comes up between martial arts film fans about who the greater force was from this era: Chang Cheh or Lia Chiang-Liu. While I concede that Liu was a master in his own right and created some of the most memorable and brilliant pictures that the genre has ever seen, Chang Cheh was just so consistent and versatile in his output. When comparing the two, you have to concede that Liu was certainly the more traditionally artistic of the two. His work is generally more dramatic, character driven and has slightly less emphasis on superficial gimmicks. This is where Chang Cheh differs from Liu, because I don’t think that there is a gimmick that the man ever met that he didn’t love. That reason by itself explains just what I love about the man and his movies, but there is still so much more to his work. The gimmicks are just a part of what makes his work so special. While so many other directors were going to Shaolin and using monks in all of their work, who dressed in dreary clothing and were universally ordinary. Cheh would instead throw his cast in an assortment of brightly colored outfits that seemed more fitting for astronauts than for actual turn of the century martial artists. You know what though? That’s the point and that is partially what makes his work so great, in that he creates a different atmosphere and a different universe for his characters.

House of Traps comes at the tale end of the old school movement and is indeed one of Chang Cheh’s last films featuring many of the Venom clan. It came about right before action-comedy would become the prevalent dominating force within the community. While House of Traps is far from the best film the director or this team ever made, it demonstrates everything that made Chang Cheh such a visionary and it at times also demonstrates the pitfalls that he was known to sink in. The name Chang Cheh has almost become synonymous at this point with certain types of melodrama. His work exemplifies chivalry and honor amongst men and House of Traps is no different. The good guys are remarkably good and the bad guys are just dastardly in their evil attitudes. Cheh and Ni Kuang did not usually dabble in the gray areas of life (with House of Traps playing both sides of the fence to a certain degree, but I’ll get to that shortly) and the old fashioned sentimentality of these movies adds a certain charm to them. Cheh’s heroes are kind to all men, fair in their view of justice and are generally amicable in all respects. Chien Sun’s character in House of Traps is the definition of this trait, as he takes in The Black Fox (played by Phillip Kwok) despite his obvious attempts at grifting him for money. Although Sun Chien seems a bit wasted in the shoes of this character (he never has a single fight sequence), he correctly demonstrates how definite the moral equation is between these two groups who are waging war with one another… or so it would seem.

There is a particular twist that comes about in roughly the last thirty seconds of House of Traps that defies much of what has come before it in the film. Although I don’t want to spoil anything, if you are at least vaguely familiar with the formula for a martial arts film then you know that this movie will end with an elaborate battle. It’s as if the filmmakers decided to throw a monkey wrench inside of the machine and call into question the very formula of martial arts cinema itself. Although not played in nearly that profound of a fashion, the final lines of the film seem to make a statement that perhaps war and fighting are not the way in which to settle disputes. Heave, right? Not really. The main problem with House of Traps comes from this elaborate and unnecessary plotting. Quite literally within the first minute of this movie, you are going to be confused. House of Traps opens with a succession of quick cuts and random facts dealing with the actual House of Traps from the movie, its history and the two warring factions. If you can keep track of this information as well as the endless series of characters who are introduced and their responsibilities within each faction, then you are a far better man than I. Writing down names and phonetically spelling out the names for their characters, it was still tricky to keep up with everything that House of Traps throws at its audience. I had similar issues with Ten Tigers From Kwangtung, where it seemed as if Cheh tried to gather too much information with too large of a cast to be conveyed in such a short amount of time. Ultimately, this is the greatest downfall of the movie. No matter how great the martial arts and how charismatic the actors may be, when you’re having trouble keeping up with the vigorous plot then your enjoyment level is going to be severely limited.

Cheh and his crew do manage to flaunt some of their better qualities as well. I mentioned the gimmickry of Chang Cheh’s movies up above and this title is no different. The house of traps from the title is actually a really fantastic and entertaining idea. The house is essentially a booby trapped hut meant to house the Prince and his secret documents and stolen goods. A lot of the action is set around one single set piece that features a staircase that leads to a cellar/pit area. When a martial artist is trapped in this room, spikes begin to raise up from out of the floor and they are left with only the option to try and run back up the stairs. This holds another trick for the unlucky victim, as the staircase quickly has its steps drop, leaving anyone on them to fall to their death. If a quick witted martial artist somehow manages to evade the spikes and quickly flip up to the second story, then they have to fend off several nets that feature wooden boards on their sides which are adorned with massive spikes. The movie features many other secret booby traps throughout that of course have a secret weakness to some given martial arts technique. Not everyone can survive however, and that leads us to a few instances of traditional Chang Cheh gore. Known as the most violent filmmaker of this period, Cheh does not disappoint as we are given several very bloody death scenes throughout. One of which includes a man having half of his foot chopped off within the house of traps!

	The Trivia

	The Conclusion

It isn’t the best nor the worst in the career of these filmmakers. With some solid plot structure and a more jaunting pace, this could have been a classic. The choreography is spectacular as usual, but I must admit it takes some trudging to actually get to the epic fight sequences. I give the movie a three out of five, due mainly to the charismatic leads and the always blistering fight sequences which are quite spectacular. Particularly in the final minutes, where we see many excellent weapons put to great use. For Chang Cheh and Venoms fans, this is a must see. For those not initiated with the genre, this is something you need to come back to eventually. Either way it goes, it deserves a look.

The Plot: Professional troubleshooter Mike Colby (Jesse Vint) has just woke up from a deep cryogenic freeze that lasted a lifetime. He is given orders to find a genetic research lab on the desert planet of Xarbia and discover why they have sent out a distress signal. When he arrives he discovers that the lab has been playing with genetic mutations and they have created a bizarre lifeform known as a metamorph. This being, which is at first being incubated inside of a pod, is soon let loose from its cocoon only to reek havoc on the station. Now it is up to Colby to figure out how to destroy this growing monster. It seems invulnerable to all known weapons and it has an insatiable craving for protein. Turns out human beings don’t have enough protein for it to really use, so it first has to infect any human being it comes in contact with and then that turns said human being into a massive gelatin-like blob of pure protein that it can feast off of for a much longer period of time. Will Colby save the day or will the crew end up as this monster’s food?

	The Review

In my review for Galaxy of Terror, I talked a lot about the big names that Roger Corman helped to establish through his company New World pictures. Forbidden World, the final part in a trilogy of science fiction films produced by Corman (Battle Beyond the Stars, Galaxy of Terror and of course Forbidden World) during the eighties showcases his discovery of unknown talents. Although the names aren’t as high profile as those in Galaxy of Terror this seems to have given a slight bit more freedom (extra freedom on a Corman set?) to the project and that in turn helps create something even more interesting. Allan Holzman takes a bare bones budget and actually crafts an otherworldly piece of scifi-horror-comedy. Although still obviously trapped in the confines of a Roger Corman movie, a b-movie regardless of any intentions, it manages to throw enough curve balls at genre convention that I think despite the hokey sets and obvious budgetary restraints put on the movie – it actually becomes the better film between it and Galaxy of Terror.

Allan Holzman who has went on to become a documentary filmmaker for the better part of his career, started off as an editor with Corman (like so many directors) and eventually proved himself fit to take on a movie all by himself. Holzman, as can be seen in the supplemental features on the Shout Factory DVD, is an interesting human being who has had to overcome a great deal during the course of his life and career. The first half of his career his speech impediment, a stuttering problem, even forced him to have others speak for him. Facing his problem better while directing rather than when speaking normally, he managed to actually create a legitimately funny little scifi gem here in Forbidden World. Although the movie had much of the comedy removed at Roger Corman’s behest, the original Forbidden World still retains that comedy element that works tremendously well regardless of the conditions. Featured on this DVD is the original Holzman cut for the film which retains a lot of the little added bits of humor that actually helps the film out a great deal.

Keeping in line with Galaxy of Terror, Corman was once again looking to rip off the Alien franchise and thus the movie goes after a hard R rating. Featuring a great deal of gory violence and disgusting creature FX, Forbidden World may be considered a must see simply for the latex and practical visual FX alone. There are some bloody death sequences throughout the movie, including holes chewed through faces and bodies turned into gelatinous goo in a very slow and excruciating manner. Some of the bodies which are turned into gooey puddles are downright disgusting, even for a old gorehound like myself. The real money shot for the movie in terms of practical FX-work is certainly the lead monster itself, the metamorph. Featuring a face that looks a lot like the creature from Ridley Scott’s movie Alien, it features a giant body that resembles Jaba the Hutt with pinchers. This body was likely a bad idea, since the monster needed to make very swift and quick movements which come across as phony when you take into account how big the monster actually is. Still, the physical appearance of the monster is quite threatening and it works pretty well despite it looking pretty fake at times.

This is a Roger Corman picture however and despite the slight hints of black comedy (which comes across via irony, small inside jokes and one-liners) you have to expect a certain level of cheapness and lowest-common-denominator thinking. This movie, despite everything, is a takeoff on Alien. The small confined area, the monster on the loose picking off crew members and the obvious appearance of the monster are all tell tale signs of this. Along the way Corman manages to riff on Star Trek (the sandy wastelands of this Forbidden World are very reminiscent of the TV show) as well as Star Wars. The Star Wars references seem quite plentiful, with our leading man’s right-hand-robot Sam looking a LOT like a storm trooper and his ship actually vaguely having the appearance of the Millennium Falcon. These could just be similarities that have nothing to do with one another, but knowing Corman I find that doubtful.

	The Trivia

	The Conclusion

The performances are by and large fairly weak, due likely to the tensions of having to shoot so fast and for so cheap, but that is the Corman way. The writing is actually where the movie tends to shine the most. The dialogue is relatively witty for a movie such as this and Jesse Vint actually revels in the role of a cocky “trouble shooter”, despite some fairly awkward moments along the way. I give the movie the same rating that I did Galaxy of Terror, but if I were to recommend you see just one of these two it would be Forbidden World even though the dreamlike epic visual strengths of Terror are definitely worth checking into.

The Plot: When a spacestation is picked up on the radar and is found to be entirely lifeless, another group of space pioneers are sent out to find any possible survivors and bring them back. As one could possibly guess at this point, things don’t run so smooth once the ship lands on this desolate landscape. In the midst of this giant rubble covered planet is a massive pyramid shaped object that has some form of mystic power. The group slowly starts to dwindle down as each and every member has their own nightmares and worst fears come to life. The group quickly splits in parts, as their squad leader goes on a power trip and all logic seems to be fleeting. Will this group learn to pair up and not let their fears get the better of them, or will these nightmarish creatures take them all?

	The Review

Roger Corman, even if you’re unable to say a positive word about the man in general discussion, the least you can say is that the man knew how to spot talent. His low budget productions came about in a time where Hollywood executives, who of course still operate the same way, were more interested in hiring proven talent and dependable filmmakers with track records. Getting a break in the business in the age before the internet proved to be even more difficult, but Corman always proved to be open minded about the filmmakers he would bring in for his productions. There are numerous stories about the man going to film schools and hiring on young crew members fresh from college and sending them on their way into fabulous careers. James Cameron is only one of many young talents that he helped along the way. Galaxy of Terror illustrates just what was so great about Corman’s particular style of guerrilla filmmaking. Sure, Galaxy of Terror doesn’t prove to be much more than a ripoff of Alien but it has a couple of very distinct qualities that helps to separate it from the pack. First, there’s the cast! What a cast it is, a veritable who’s who of character actors, including the likes of Robert Englund, Sid Haig, Ray Walston, Grace Zabriskie and Erin Moran of all people! So, you take that cast and then you counter in the fact that this is also a surprisingly gory horror movie taking place in space… oh, and there’s also a little scene where a young woman is raped by a maggot.

Yes, you read that right. Your eyes have not deceived you. A maggot rapes a woman in this picture. This isn’t your regular household maggot mind you. The anatomy simply wouldn’t work! Being a Corman production we know that bigger is better, so imagine your garden variety maggot and then blow him up to roughly fifteen feet long and about six foot thick and you have a good start. Although I would like to think that I, as a film reviewer and commentator, would be far removed from the type of author who tries to sell a movie based solely on any kind of shock element… but I truly am not that mature. Having not seen Galaxy of Terror beforehand, I did not know going into this movie that it would A) be so violent and B) feature a maggot-rape scene. So imagine my shock, bewilderment and downright juvenile entertainment at these two discoveries when screening the movie! By all standards I don’t think anyone is going to argue that Galaxy of Terror is a fantastic piece of science fiction. The characters are paper thin even for a project like this, with much of the film dedicated to showing that these “astronauts” have the ability explain complicated sounding materials and machines to one another. So, the gore must have come from the fact that this movie obviously needed a little something special going for it. It shoots for the lowest common denominator in that respect, but for myself as a viewer I some times enjoy seeing how far the spiral can go. Galaxy of Terror is a throwback to a different time and a different element. There were many prudes still around, but Roger Corman didn’t care and he knew that people would have no other reaction to hearing about a maggot-rape scene than to say “where can I see this?” and that is part of what makes the man brilliant.

There’s no getting past it, Galaxy of Terror has ‘b-movie’ written on it from the jump. The dialogue is at times utterly atrocious and no matter the considerable talent level of this cast, they find it tough bringing much of it to life. Thankfully we as the audience can gather a few smirks from some of these gems. Shot on a shoe-string budget that is well covered on the documentary accompanying the Shout Factory DVD, that certain level of goofiness found in the film is understandable and with viewers like myself – it is actually enjoyed! The attempts at creating a gimmick for each character is cheesy enough in itself, but I still have a soft spot for that kind of cheap attempt at endearing a character to the audience. It doesn’t work for every film, but in older movies with a more naive tone I find that it can be charming to a degree. I particularly enjoyed Sid Haig whose character has the most gimmicks going for him. He plays his role entirely mute and has only one line during the course of the entire production, but he still manages to really stick out despite this. His use of two highly ineffective throwing stars, made out of crystal and over a foot long, is another great attribute that causes him to stick out like a sore thumb. Ridiculous? Sure! That is the name of the game however when you’re trying to appeal to this type of demographic. If it were not for the massive amounts of violence, Galaxy of Terror could very well play to children!

Yet that violence is what makes Galaxy of Terror the project that it is and it was. Featuring dismemberments, intestines, head explosions and an incredibly campy vibe – this movie proves itself as a horror movie despite its science fiction introduction. There is one scene involving a piece of glass being shoved beneath one character’s skin that even managed to make me hiss a little! While making the movie’s ‘monsters’ appear different to each character, the film finds a way to kill off many members of the crew in bizarre and highly different fashions. This idea would later be re-appropriated in the movie Sphere which one can’t help think of while watching. Although that movie attacked similar ideas in a different manner, I can’t help but wonder if the original author ever at one point stumbled upon some drive-in that featured a showing of Galaxy of Terror and later had visions dancing in his mind!

	The Trivia

	The Conclusion

While it may not be a classic in either the science fiction or horror genre, there are certain moments that immediately stand out in Galaxy of Terror. While I think many viewers will be surprised by the carnage, I hope that my ranting and raving over the gore hasn’t given off the wrong impression for the film. Believe me, if you are a horror fan you have likely seen far gorier than this. Still, for a Corman production and for a movie feature Joanie from Happy Days one can’t help but be stunned by the level of violence found here. I recommend it for horror or scifi junkies, especially those looking for a quick piece of escapist entertainment. The Shout Factory disc should prove very hard to pass up!

The Plot: Kei Tsuchiya is a brown belt in Karate (played by Rina Takeda, a legitimate karate black belt) but that is only because of how incredibly harsh her master is when it comes handing out belts. Tsuchiya’s skills are truly at the black belt level and to prove this she goes from one karate school to the next in order to challenge their masters. When she wins, she collects their black belts. After collecting nearly all the belts that she can, Tsuchiya begins to search out more exciting endeavors. Her master, Sensei Matsumura, is a master of the art who looks to teach young Tsuchiya that fighting is not the necessary thing to do and that real karate is learned through the repetition of forms and finding inner solitude. The young girl however is still spoiled by her own power and looks to join up, or challenge, a group of young martial artists named The Destroyers. However, as she soon discovers, this group isn’t the type of people she would hope to associate with and they actually have some history with her master Matsumura.

	The Review

If you read the front page of this site, you know that I had been excited about this project since first seeing its trailer. I am a fan of mixed martial arts and K1 kickboxing, so I know just how spectacular the “high kick” can be as a offensive technique. I also know that it is rare that we see extremely cute Japanese girls laying a cinematic beating on dozens of grown men. So, knowing Rina Takeda’s background as a legitimate martial artist, I had high hopes for High Kick Girl. While I am not here to rain on anyone’s parade and say that it is a severe disappointment, I will instead simply say that it is an entertaining b-movie that shows areas of promise but simply fails to make good. Light on plot or narrative and high on fight scenes, High Kick Girl is the big dumb karate movie embodied, in one easy to swallow eighty minute caplet. Although it at times has delusions of grandeur, it unfortunately never succeeds at stepping up to become a legitimate threat to the few martial talents that are producing phenomenal films (Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Tony Jaa) at a top level.

Making good on the limitations of the V-Cinema (Japanese straight to video productions) marketplace, director Fuyuhiko Nishi manages to create a karate feature that is equally a cinematic spawn from the work of Sonny Chiba and also an odd mix of several popular concepts floating around in the cinematic martial art world. The first incredibly noticeable aspect of the fight choreography is the impact that is made on the actors. In traditional action choreography the fight sequences have always been staged in a manner where the actors pull their punches back within inches of their opponent and the camera is stationed in a position that just misses the gap between fist and face. However, since the rise of Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior and the rise of Thai action cinema, a new style of fight choreography has entered into the market place. The punches that are thrown aren’t legitimately as powerful as they possibly could be, but the difference here is that the blows actually connect with their opponents. This stylized form of combat has actually been popular within Japan for many years in their “Puro” form of professional wrestling and Jackie Chan has also been known to feature some brutal connecting shots in his Hong Kong film work (although not in quite as brutal of a fashion). Once again, the blows are not as powerful as they could be, but they are strong enough to look both painful and real. I can only assume that Ong Bak was more than likely the genesis of the fight sequences throughout High Kick Girl, but who is to say?

I don’t think you could make a film that is more obviously a coming out party for any particular talent. Rina Takeda is given a tremendous opportunity as she is pampered and given such a tailored role. The character of Kei Tsuchiya is not an incredibly diverse or difficult role to pull off, but I was shocked at the level of arrogance the young actress/athlete had to pull off. This type of role is not uncommon in Kung Fu cinema, where more times than not the lead character is a young hustler trying to get over on a few hoodlums (Dirty Ho, Knockabout) but to see a female pulling off the role is something different to say the least. This proved to be an interesting choice, because one figures since this is her breakout performance and debut the producers would go for an instantly more likeable character. However, instead we have to slowly buy into this young woman and invest more of our time in her character. How is the young actress in her role? Truthfully she seems a little wooden in the part. However, the fight sequences are of course where she shines and in that regard she is exceptional. The fight sequences, especially those involving the young actress, are done quite well in their unrepentant brutality. Focusing mainly on kicks (duh), there are a tremendous variety of foot-level assaults. Front kicks, spinning back kicks, axe kicks and any variation of the roundhouse that you could possibly imagine is thrown about during this incredibly short feature.

Fight scenes and interesting choices do not a good movie make though! High Kick Girl is about as corny and cheesy as most casual movie goers would expect it to be. Where I had hoped it would be “cutesy” on the worst side, it is instead a cadre of action film cliches and ridiculously clunky character motivations. Skipping first gear entirely, the movie begins with its pace set to “uber”. Where this would normally be a positive for any action title, we unfortunately miss out on so much character motivation and background. Funny moments pop up throughout the picture as we discover that this group The Destroyers have been looking for Matsumura for years, but according to everything that we have seen so far he has been running a dojo in Japan under the same name. When you claim that you have been searching for someone for years, doesn’t that imply that they have at least been hiding? Or does it imply that you are so inept in your searching that you didn’t bother to look in a phone book for “Matsumura – Karate Master”. This is the vague introduction that we have to this elite squad of killers. This is also the END of all character background because we are never truly clued into the reason that this group is out to kill Matsumura. This could be spawned from the fact that this is a V-Cinema title and everything in that industry is ruled by the sequel. So I have a good feeling that this absolutely necessary bit of character motivation was left out for a reason.

The final thing I feel I should mention harkens back to the fight scenes again. This doesn’t have anything to do with the fight choreography mind you, but the choices made by the director. For one… the use of slow motion. Clocking in at just eighty minutes worth of film time, and that is generous and not deducting credits, there is no need to have as much slow motion as there is in this film. I will concede that the use of ambient music (which is likely the second best thing about the movie, behind the fight choreography) during these slow motion sequences creates a very interesting texture. However, this is a big dumb action picture for crying out loud! The second incredibly annoying recurring aspect of the movie is the use of repeated footage. Jackie Chan is the godfather of this, but when Jackie Chan showed us three different shots of himself falling off the side of a building and through three pieces of cloth in Project A he did so showing us the incredible danger of the stunt. High Kick Girl repeats almost every single “painful” looking shot and in slow-as-dirt-motion. If you cut the repeated shots out and you remove the slow motion, we may very well be talking about a one hour long movie.

	The Conclusion

The film does a good job at explaining the tenants of Karate and Rina Takeda actually interests me as a future martial arts film star. However, High Kick Girl has some real problems. For those itching to see some cute girls kicking so high that we see their panties, then this will already be on your top ten list. For everyone else, take it with a grain of salt. It isn’t a particularly great piece of cinema and its nowhere near being a action classic. It is a moderately entertaining time and I’m glad that I have seen it. I give it a solid three out of five. It hovers above average, due mainly to the few flares that separate it from the rest of the cinematic world.

[imdb]0076518[/imdb] The Plot: Tony (Harry Baer) is a small time collector for a gambling outfit who uses both his wits as well as his tremendous fighting abilities to get the job done. While working one night he sees young Rick (Al Cliver) being beaten by his mafia boss Scarface (Jack Palance). He helps Rick back to his place and the two become fast friends. At work Tony is given the opportunity to make a huge play for his outfit by collecting a gambling debt worth three million lira from Scarface himself. Tony and Rick come up with a genius scam that works and allows the two to skim an extra eight million lira just for themselves. Unfortunately Scarface is far more powerful than these small time hoods and now Rick and Tony will have to hide out and ultimately fight back against Scarface and his army of mafia goons. What follows is an Italian crime film like no other!

	The Review

The polizia genre is generally a very mixed bag to be honest with you. There are really fun and inventive movies made in the wake of the craze, but there are also quite a few relatively boring genre pieces scattered amongst the litter. For a genre that was around for such a short period of time it is actually quite extensive. There were so many Italian crime films made during the seventies that to actually become an expert in the field one would have to sit through dozens and dozens of films. From the more popular Castellari and Umberto Lenzi features to the obscure titles with no-name actors and directors. Amongst this litanny of filmmakers out trying to cash in on the success of these movies, Fernando Di Leo may be one of the most intriguing names that are thrown about. He is one of the few filmmakers that gained the majority of his notoriety solely from this particular genre. Differing from Lenzi and Castellari who had bigger hits coming from cannibal films and the post-apocalyptic genre respectfully, Di Leo’s biggest cult items come in the form of polizia movies and he has been quite well regarded for them. Il Boss and Mister Scarface are both universally considered two of the best polizia titles ever made and both are products of his own creation. Although I too am a big fan of Il Boss, Mister Scarface may very well end up being my favorite Polizia title that I have ever seen.

From the outset, the one thing that immediately sets Mister Scarface (also known as Rulers of the City) apart from its adversaries is the action. Most polizia titles set forth with the promise of action galore, but more often than not they instead refer back to intrigue and power plays within these crime organizations. This is fine within itself, but I would have a difficult time referring to these films as part of the action genre in the same vein that John Woo’s earlier works were quintessential action titles. Ferdinando Di Leo instead goes directly for the audience and their jugular. With our leading man Tony, the rough and tumble kid who prefers to use his fists over a gun in most instances, we are thrown into many hand to hand fight sequences. As someone who has been spoiled by the rich and beautiful choreography of Hong Kong action for most of my life, I am rarely impressed by the fight sequence in Eurocult cinema. For the most part the punches look more like slaps and are usually thrown in such a slow looping manner that there is never any question whether the other person could find time to block such a pre-meditated strike. However, the fight sequences in Mister Scarface seem to be a lot tighter than the average. The punches are still a bit too looping for my taste, but the brutality and viciousness of the fight scenes make up for this fact. The character of Tony comes across as a legitimate tough guy, despite his baby faced appearance and this is mainly due to his spectacular work with the fight choreography.

Along with the fight sequences Di Leo spices things up with plenty of the expected car chases and shootouts, which I will get to shortly. The meat and potatoes of the film is the story though. I realize this sounds contradictory to what I have stated in the previous paragraph, but the script for Mister Scarface is very solid! Starting the film off with an absolutely beautiful slow motion sequence which shows the character Scarface and one of his henchmen murdering some poor gentleman right in front of his son, we know good and well that this young man will somehow factor back into the story but we simply don’t know how just yet. For the majority of the picture, any character in the movie could be the little boy in question. The ultimate finale where all is revealed is both surprising for its audacious and intelligent writing and also for the tremendous amount of action that surrounds the story. During a nearly twenty minute action sequence Di Leo throws everything he can at the audience. From epic car chases shot from the back seat perspective to one of our characters running around this abandoned warehouse location with a shotgun and killing dozens of villains. This is unbridled action cinema and delivers on all of the promise that has ever been expected of the polizia genre.

Featuring a cast of familiar (and not so familiar) faces, Di Leo gets excellent work out of all involved. Jack Palance is easily the most familiar name to audiences and with his European fare he can be hot or cold, but here he actually delivers and seems more animated than usual. Many of these older Hollywood veterans who had these bit parts in the Italian industry were heavily promoted as stars but only served on the picture for a hand full of days and that seems again to be the case here. Palance may not have a demanding presence throughout the movie, but when he is on screen he is commanding and in better fashion than in some of his other lesser works. Harry Baer who is a German actor who did little in the Italian film industry outside of this picture but still works regularly in his home country, is actually the little engine that could in this picture. He keeps on pushing through scene after scene and although he has the appearance of a choir boy, his tough guy persona is well sold throughout the movie. Not only through the previously mentioned fight scenes but also through his macho sexism. Sleeping with easy women, biting off more than he can chew and generally being the archetype of the arrogant young man with far too much self confidence. A particular moment that stands out to me that defines his character is when he broadly proclaims “We should go hide out with those whores… and while we’re there, we can bang them!”. The vulgarity of the statement defines the character and yet he remains charismatic, charming and most of all entertaining. Al Cliver is likely the second most popular cast member, as he will never be forgotten for his roles in Lucio Fulci’s Zombi, The Beyond, The New Gladiators and Jesus Franco’s Cannibals. His character is the opposite of Tony’s testosterone fueled youth-in-revolt attitude and is much more laid back in his demeanor. Although not as charming, he makes a tremendous mark on the picture.

	The Trivia

	The Conclusion

There is very little I can possibly think of in terms of things I didn’t like about Mister Scarface. At this point it may be my favorite polizia title and now one of my favorite action movies as well. Although it has been a long time since I handed out a rating this high, I feel it is necessary. I give Mister Scarface a five out of five. I think if there is one polizia movie that you should see and you are new to the genre, this is the one. It will either completely spoil you and ruin every polizia experience you have afterward, or it will open the doors for you and lead you to a new world. No matter which way it goes, you should see Mister Scarface. There is some negativity out there on the net about the film, but I think this generally comes from the very poor North American DVD releases for the film. I suggest tracking down the European DVD from the Raro label, under the title of Rulers of the City (although I prefer the US title of Mister Scarface because it seems sleazier!), because it is the best way to see the film.